Russia Says No Date Yet for Talks with GCC on Syria

Russia on Thursday confirmed it had agreed to discuss its approach to the Syria crisis with critical Gulf foreign ministers, but denied that a firm date had been set for next week.

"We have received the agreement in principle from member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to organize such a meeting," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told ITAR-TASS.

"We hope that we will be able to agree on a mutually-acceptable date in the near future."

Russia's statement came in response to an announcement made earlier Thursday by the foreign minister of Kuwait that the meeting would be held on March 7 in Riyadh.

Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah told Kuwaiti members of parliament that the six-nation bloc would "express their disappointment with the Russian stance".

Moscow along with Beijing has twice wielded its Security Council veto to block U.N. action on the crisis in Syria, first in October last year and again in February.